Vector Computation in the Fly Brain

Many neuroscientists enjoyed the ZNZ Symposium 2021 on 16 September
in-person again after last year’s online version. More than 380 visitors followed
a diverse program with 145 posters, workshops, short talks of new members
and plenary talks of Larry Abbott, Columbia University and Koetser Prize Awardee
Magdalena Götz from LMU. Several PhD students received prizes for their work.  

Measurements of neural network activity during the fly’s navigation in space became more
sophisticated with the use of virtual reality. Larry Abbott showed that the experimental data on network dynamics in various parts of the fly brain can be modelled very closely with vector mathematics. This fascinating lecture gives encouraging signals to include mathematical modeling in neuroscience.  

Magdalena Götz received the 2021 Koetser Award for her outstanding discoveries of mechanisms underlying brain development and repair. In a comprehensive overview, she showed that distinct glial cells function as neural stem cells during brain development and how, in principle, the neurogenic potential of glial cells can be used for endogenous brain repair.

Dr. Muhammad Khadeesh bin Imtiaz has received the ZNZ Best PhD Award 2021 honoring his work on molecular mechanisms underlying the age-dependent decline of adult neurogenesis. His work has been prominently published in Cell Stem Cell, the leading stem cell journal.
This year, the Stewart-Berry Poster Award was introduced in memory of Stewart Berry (1985–2018), a PhD candidate at the Brain Research Institute. The three posters are: Nadine Binder et al. (Leptomeningeal collaterals allow beneficial gradual reperfusion after stroke with thrombolysis), Stan Kerstjens et al. (A developmental address space in mouse brain) and Angeliki Damilou et al. (The impact of Caja-Retzius cell death in the development of the cortical circuit).

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